DUNEDIN, Fla. — On the first day of full-squad workouts, on the first pitch from Todd Redmond in live batting practice, Jose Bautista whacked the ball over the fence in right-centre field.

He savoured the moment for only a second, acknowledging that a stiff breeze gave his blast a bit of a boost. But Bautista, relaxed and upbeat, hit balls hard and far throughout batting practice. Given that it was Feb. 21, this hardly qualified as an omen, but for the Toronto Blue Jays, it certainly beat the alternative.

The last time Bautista played in a game that counted was Aug. 20. Then a hip injury shelved him for the season. A year earlier, he was finished on Aug. 25, done in by a wrist problem. Over those two seasons, he played in just 210 games, hitting 55 homers with a slash line of .251/.358/.510/.868 and a 7.2 WAR. Creditable numbers, to be sure, but awash with unfinished business.

Bautista’s maladies mirrored the team’s. Injuries have sabotaged the Jays for two years running and helped drive them into the American League East cellar last season. Bautista observed that his own injuries did not result from any neglect of his conditioning, but nonetheless, he resolved to come to camp in the best shape of his life.

He and teammate Melky Cabrera — another 2013 casualty — reside in nearby Tampa and have been working out together twice daily since mid-December. Part of their strength and conditioning drills included “flipping tires, pushing cars, crazy stuff like that,” Bautista said.

Toronto Blue Jays Jose Bautistha warms up at Spring Training in Dunedin, Fla. on Friday February 21, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

By the time Cabrera hit the disabled list for good last Aug. 2, he was barely mobile, owing to crippling pain in his back and legs. Earlier tests showed nothing serious, but finally doctors discovered, and removed, a walnut-sized tumour that had encircled his spine.

When Cabrera suited up Friday, he looked lighter, quicker and stronger. During their winter workouts, Bautista said he was startled by Cabrera’s strength, especially evident when they took on those super-sized tires in their afternoon workouts.

“He’s way stronger than I am physically,” Bautista said. “He’s really surprised me this off-season. Hopefully, the removal of the tumour from his back is going to allow him to gain that lower-extremity strength that he was lacking last year.”

Bautista is bullish about his team too. At this time each year, of course, optimism bubbles in every training camp, and often it sounds like whistling past the graveyard. But a day after his general manager called the team a contender-in-waiting, Bautista sang from the same sheet. The talent is there, he said, just as it was this time last year, after a couple of stunning trades and before injuries and underachievement prevailed.

Bautista insisted, as did GM Alex Anthopoulos, that the Jays can do well with the pitchers they have, notwithstanding his boss’s assertion last fall that acquiring a dependable starter (or two) was an absolute priority.

“We’re very competitive,” Bautista said. “We’re really talented. And I think if we remain healthy and everybody plays up to their capabilities, nobody needs to go do anything outstanding or hit 60 home runs or have a sub-one ERA. We just need to play up to our capabilities. So that being said, and that being my frame of mind, I don’t think we need necessarily more pitchers with the group of guys that we have right now, if everybody stays healthy.”

If everyone plays to their capabilities. If everyone stays healthy. Those two caveats carry currency across baseball at this time every year. But wishing won’t make it so, and doubts abound about the Jays and how good they can be.

Just about all any player can do is take care of himself. Bautista says he has taken the first step with his rigorous off-season conditioning regimen, and now he will focus on improving his plate discipline and doing his part to provide leadership. Armchair appraisals have found fault with him in both departments over the past two seasons.

Bautista himself admits his slumps often arise from impatience.

“Ideally, I’d like to do better what makes me a good hitter, and that’s swing at strikes and stay within my zones, and not chase pitches out of the zone too much,” he said. “I struggle with that, especially earlier in the last two seasons.”

Bautista struggled in April both years. Both his batting average and his average on balls in play fell below .200 in those months.

Manager John Gibbons said he has spoken to his slugger about occasionally cutting down his swing and using the whole field rather than trying to pull everything long and hard. While Bautista admits he must become more selective, he remains passionately devoted to swinging hard.

“I don’t know that there’s any different way for me,” he said. “That’s just the way that I’ve always been and the way that I think I’m wired. So I don’t know how to go about it any other way.”

As for the leadership issue, well, that is both complicated and highly debatable in sports circles. Bautista acknowledges the various schools of thought — those who walk the walk can’t always talk the talk, and vice versa — but he seems to believe he can provide a little of both. He stresses, however, that a good player should not automatically have to bear the responsibility of leadership, and that on a baseball team, a single leader is never enough, however his role is defined.

“It’s hard to just have one leader when it’s a big group of people,” he said. “I’ll try my best to always do whatever is asked of me to the best of my capability, and I feel like I’ve done that so far.”